Harriet N Farnham

Franklin Pierce Shackford, the eldest son of Jonathan and Harriet N (Farnham) Shackford was born on June 1, 1854 in Chester, New Hampshire. We find him with his parents in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses where his father worked as a farmer and Frank began working in the shoe business. He married Helen A Lewis in Portsmouth on Dec 14, 1887. By 1900, Franklin was working as a mason. He also became a selectman of Chester and the overseer of the poor. In 1906 he and his siblings were recipients of the will of his uncle Rufus and moved from Chester to Derry. Being the recipient of a will might be why Franklin wrote his own will four years later.

By 1920 Franklin was still in Derry working in the shoe business again. He died on July 5, 1926 at the age of 72, 16 months after the death of his wife. We learn a lot more about Franklin who also went by F. P. from his obituary which was published in The Derry News on July 9, 1926.

The Derry News, July 9, 1926

DEATH OF F. P. SHACKFORD

Franklin F. P. Shackford of 7
Everett street, passed away in Man-
chester, at the Lucy Hastings hospital
at an early hour Tuesday morning. He
went to the hospital some two or three
weeks ago for an operation for hernia
and passed the illness in find shape and
was s nearly recovered that he was
planning soon to come home. The shock
came very suddenly and unexpected. The
body was brought to the home here
Tuesday forenoon by undertaker Homer
A. White.
Mr. Shackford was born in Chester,
January 1, 1854, and was a stone mason
and bricklayer bytrade. He came from
Chester to Derry some 20 years ago. He
was a member of the O. U. A. M. And
while in in Chester was eleted to the of-
fice of selectmen. He was a very in-
dustrious and reliable man, and had
many friends. His wife passed away
a few years ago.
Mr Shackford is survived by one
daughter, Mrs. Benj. S. Hoisington of
this town, and a son I. Lewis Shack-
ford of Boston, also four grandchil-
dren, Richard, Barbara, Robert and
Eleanor.
The funeral services were held at
the home Tuesday afternoon at 3
p’clock and were conducted by the
Rev. I. J. Enslin, pastor of the Bap-
tist church. The singing was by Mrs.
Alice C. Kingsbury. There were
many very beautiful flowers from
relatives and friends. the interment
was in the family lot in Forest Hill
cemetery by undertakers H. A. White
& Son. Burnside Council J. O. U.
A. M. held their services at the grave.

We wish to thank the Deery Library for sharing these wonderful newspaper articles that help us learn more about the Shackfords!

All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

We found this announcement in the Derry newspaper announcing that Franklin P Shackford had been appointed as the Administrator of his father’s estate:

The Derry News, 6 Sep 1895

The subscriber gives action that he has
been duly appointed Administrator of the
estate of
JONATHAN SHACKFORD, late of Chester,
in the county of Rockingham, deceased.
All persons indebted to said estate are requested
to make payment, and all having claims to present
them for adjustment.
FRANKLIN P. SHACKFORD
Dated Chester August 25th 1895

This led us hunt in the the New Hampshire County Probate records where we found that Jonathan had not left a will and that his wife Harriet (Farnum) had asked the court to approve Jonathan’s son Franklin as the administrator – this document also showed that Franklin, his mother, and his sister had posted a $2,000 bond.

Further research led us to the Docket documents showing that Jonathan’s real estate was valued at $1986 and his personal property was valued at $178.45.

All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

We’re pretty certain that Harriet Farnum Shackford was the daughter of John and Olive Farnum and that she was born in Manchester, NH on Oct 20, 1823. Our only hesitation was finding her obituary listing her maiden name as Varnum but we believe this is a typo. We believe we’ve found her in the Chester census in 1850 at age 28 living with parents John and Olive and 12 year old Elisabeth Vinson but know little of her heritage.

Our only source of Harriet’s marriage is John Carroll Chase’s book History of Chester New Hampshire Including Auburn A Supplement to the History of Old Chester Published in 1869 which states that Jonathan Shackford married in 1853 Harriet N Farnham. We then find her and Jonathan and their children in the 1860, 1870, and 1880 census. She probably had a tough life as the wife of a farmer in Chester, NH in the mid 1850 – 1880s but it may have been eased by her husband’s inheritance of the family homestead farm along with other neighboring property.

Harriet’s husband Jonathan died on August 4, 1895 in Chester and she followed her son-in-law George Symmes and her daughter Olive A to Canada where we find the family in 1901. Olive died in Quebec in 1903 and Harriet returned to Kingston, New Hampshire where she died on January 3, 1904. The cause of death was listed as senile, fall & injury to the neck.

Her obituary is shown below – we think it has a few typing errors – her maiden name is listed as Varnum and her son-in-law’s last name is misspelled Simms.

The Derry News, 8 Jan 1904

Harriet (Varnum) Shackford, widow of
the late Jonathan Shackford, died Sunday at
the home of her son-in-law, George Simms in
Kingston, at the age of 81 years and 3 months.
Her remains were brought here Tuesday and
placed in the receiving tomb to await internment
in the Village cemetery. After the death of
her husband several years ago she went to
Canada to live with her daughter Mrs Olive
Simms, and since her death about one year
ago has made her home with her son-in-law in
Kingston. Of her immediate family she is
survived by one son, Franklin P. Shackford.

Harriet’s will which was dated Dec 12, 1903 left $1.00 to her son Franklin Pierce Shackford and the remainder to her son-in-law, George W Symmes. Based on Harriet’s cause of death which was listed as senile, we wonder if the will was contested.

Samuel Q Shackford (1855-1868) – died at the young age of 8, buried in Chester, NH

Harriet E Shackford (1857-1876) – died at the young age of 18, buried in Chester, NH

Olive A Shackford (1859-1903) – married George W Symmes of Canada, lived in Manchester, then Canada where she died of valvular heart disease at the age of 43

All posts on this website are a work in progress. We’d love to learn of any corrections or additions to the information shared. Also we’d love it if you’d like the post here or at http://www.facebook.com/shackfordgenealogy) as that helps share the post with others. Thanks!

Chase John Carroll, History of Chester New Hampshire Including Auburn A Supplement to the History of Old Chester Published in 1869 (Derry, New Hampshire: John Carroll Chase, 1926), page 357-358; digital image, Archive.org (https://archive.org : accessed 27 December 2016.

Franklin Pierce Shackford, the son of Jonathan and Harriett N. (Farnham) Shackford was born June 1, 1854 in Chester, New Hampshire and lived with his parents in Chester until at least 1880 when he was “working on shoes”.

When he was 33, Franklin married Helen A Lewis, the daughter of John E and Helen A (Stevens) Lewis on Dec 14, 1887 in Portsmouth, Maine and returned to Chester where he worked as a mason and served as a selectman. His wife worked as a dressmaker and raised their two children. Sometime before 1910 they moved to Derry where Franklin worked as a mason, farmer, and shoe maker. Franklin died in Manchester at the age of 72 on July 5, 1926 of a cerebral hemorrhage after being a patient in the Lucy Hasting Hospital for about four weeks and was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in East Derry.

Franklin had written his will in 1910 designating his beloved wife as administrator but unfortunately she had died on March 12, 1925. We have not yet found who assumed that responsibility but know that he also left $500 to his two children Elsie M Shackford who had married Benjamin Shubel Hoisington in 1923 and Irwin Lewis Shackford who had married Annette Mabel Parsons in 1913.

Franklin P Shackford’s Will

Will Franklin P Shackford Derry
Be it Remembered that I Franklin P Shackford of Derry, in the County of Rockingham and State of New Hampshire, considering the uncertainty of this mortal life and being of sound mind and perfect memory, do make and publish this as my last will and testament hereby revoking all other wills heretofore by me made in the manner following
First After the payment of my just debts and funeral expenses by my executor, hereinafter named, I give and bequeath to my daughter Elsie M Shackford the sum of five hundred dollars
Second I give and bequeath to my son, Irwin L Shackford the sum of five hundred dollars

Third I give, bequeath and devise all the rest and residue of my estate, both real and personal of every description and where ever found to my beloved wife Helen A Shackford to her own and behalf forever.
Fourth I do hereby appoint my said wife sole
executor of this my last will and testament to
furnish a surety as sureties on her bond as
such executrix.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my
hand and seal this sixteenth day of February 1910.
Frank P Shackford (seal)
Signed, published, and declared by the above
Franklin P Shackford as and for his last will
and testament in the presence of us three, who at
his request in his presence and in presence of
each other have subscribed our names as witnesses
as hereto.
Edwin B Weston
A Arlean Bartlett
George I Bartlett
Recorded truly Robet Scott Registrar

Annual Reports of the Selectmen, Overseer of the Poor, Town Treasurer, Town Clerk School Board, Library Trustees, and Auditors of the Town of Chester for the Year ending February 14, 1903. (Derry, N. H.: Charles Bartlett, Printer, 1903), page 4; digital images, My Heritage Library Edition (http://myheritagelibraryedition.com : accessed 28 January 2015.